Linux gamers on Steam cross over the 3% mark

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Steam share and Steam Deck’s role

  • The 3.05% figure refers to Linux monthly active users (MAU), not total devices. Around 27% of those Linux users identify as Steam Deck/Legion, so most Linux gamers are on regular PCs.
  • Commenters note this seems inconsistent with estimates of ~4M Decks sold, but point out many Decks sit idle, are opted out or never sampled in the hardware survey, or run custom firmware that doesn’t report as a Deck.
  • Several people run Steam on multiple Linux devices, further muddying attempts to infer total hardware from MAU.

Game compatibility and anti‑cheat roadblocks

  • For most single‑player and co‑op titles, Proton “just works”; many report 90–99% of their Steam libraries playable, often with performance close to or better than Windows.
  • The big gap is competitive online games with kernel‑level anti‑cheat (Fortnite, Valorant, many Battlefield/CoD‑style shooters). These typically do not work on Linux despite some anti‑cheat vendors offering partial Linux support.
  • Opinions split: some refuse rootkit‑style anti‑cheat entirely; others say fair multiplayer is more important than kernel purity and wish for a Linux‑friendly solution.
  • Ideas floated include more server‑side detection and “fog‑of‑war” style hiding of unseen players, but these are seen as expensive and complex.

User experiences with Linux gaming

  • Many describe moving from Steam Deck → desktop Linux after realizing how well Proton works. Bazzite, SteamOS, CachyOS, Arch and NixOS/Jovian are common gaming setups.
  • Old Windows titles and classics often run more easily through Wine/Lutris than on modern Windows, which may require VMs or manual hacks.
  • Pain points still exist: certain titles break after updates, shader pre‑compilation can cause long first‑launch delays, and flatpak Steam has some quirks.

Windows dissatisfaction as a catalyst

  • A recurring theme is frustration with Windows 10/11: ads, telemetry, cloud account lock‑in, OneDrive integration, dark‑pattern file dialogs, laggy Explorer/search, and forced updates.
  • Some argue Windows development has shifted to “revenue extraction mode”; others defend its backward compatibility and strong hardware support, especially for niche/professional apps.
  • Several users now keep Windows only for a handful of anti‑cheat‑heavy games or VR.

macOS and other platforms

  • macOS has even lower Steam share than Linux. Commenters cite frequent platform breakage (32‑bit, OpenGL, Rosetta timelines), Metal‑only graphics, ARM transition, and a tiny native games catalog.
  • Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit is seen as promising but hamstrung by licensing and lack of Vulkan; long‑term back‑catalog access is viewed as better on Linux.

Drivers, distros, and hardware realities

  • AMD GPUs generally “just work” on modern distros; Nvidia support is described as bimodal—either flawless or hours of troubleshooting, especially on laptops and Wayland.
  • Rolling/Arch‑based distros are popular among gamers due to fast kernel/driver updates; Mint, Fedora and various immutable/atomic systems (Bazzite, Silverblue, SteamOS) are also prominent.
  • Some note that desktop Linux can still have rough edges (audio, Bluetooth, multi‑monitor, battery life), but LLMs now help non‑experts resolve many issues without deep CLI knowledge.

Survey methodology and market impact

  • Multiple comments stress that the Steam Hardware Survey is a sample, not a census, and likely undercounts Linux, especially Decks.
  • Developers report Linux players are a small share but generate disproportionately many support tickets, mostly because of distro fragmentation and custom setups.
  • Nonetheless, the trend and Deck numbers are seen as strong enough that many expect more studios to consider Linux/Proton as a first‑class target.